Mike King opened the door.
Welcome to High Hill Manor!
Welcome to High Hill Manor!
With the formalities over the gamekeeper made his way over to the living room, and throwing himself down on one of the seats like he owned the place waited to be asked for a drink.
Mike poured the gamekeeper a whiskey from the decanter. Handing the rough man over the filled glass he asked how how his day had been.
Mike was always interested in the work habits of his staff...
'It's nice to hear that things are going well, Ralph,' said Mike as he poured another drink. That one was for himself.
Ralph kicked off his boots and after sipping his whiskey he replied, 'The weather has been real fine today!' He was starting to relax. 'I mean it rained all day yesterday. Totally mad. Now it's bright and hot. But a nice cool March wind to keep things calm. Just fine and right for a days work.'
'Did you catch that pesky poacher? He has been at large in my lands for three months now. I am losing a small fortune to that rascal!'
'I have not managed to hoodwink the devil, not yet, but fear not for I am on their trial! Hot on it, in fact.'
'Tush! Let it roll! It is what it is. I should not let it bother me so much. It's just well, money is money and all that. And we all need money these days, even me...'
'Nah! You are rich man! You own this whole estate! A couple of poachers here and there are not going to hurt you!'
Ralph was joking but both men laughed and clashed glasses.
What a thing!
'How are things with you at home?' said Mike. 'Is everyone settled in? I hear you moved recently? Listen! If you need help with anything just let me know!'
'Thank you Mike! But everything is fine. The move went well. And we are settling just as fine. Thank you for giving my brother a job in the stables. He is a hard worker and he will do you proud. Like me, I guess!' They both laughed.
Such a fine joke to play!
'I like our brother. He is a fine fellow,' Mike replied. 'And how is my mother? I hear the marriage went well?'
'It did indeed,' Ralph replied. 'It was one of the happiest days of my life.'
'I am glad to hear that.'
'I didn't believe that life gave second chances, not after Meg, but when I led your mother down the aisle in her wheelchair, well, there are not many words I can use to describe how wonderful that feeling was.' said Ralph. 'Honestly, Mike, I could have wept with happiness. It was like I was being given a second chance at happiness. I mean that in all honestly. Thank you, Mike, for supporting me in the way that you did. I knew your father when he was alive, and he would not have agreed to the marriage. He would have tired to stop it. You could have tried. But you didn't. So I thank you for your support and for your favour as well. I am debt to you!'
'Yes indeed! You are in debt, literally. Don't forget the loan I gave you, Ralph... I leant you a lot of money!' said Mike. 'It all needs repaying...'
'I thought we talked that over,' Ralph replied, turning very serious. 'We agreed that I would pay you when I could. And these last few days I have been hunting that poacher for free. That means you owe me, really, especially if we think about this ethically...'
Mike heard this and it made him chuckle.
But was Mike happy, or was he angry?
Ralph was unable to work it out.
'What a generous man am I?' Mike pressed on. 'I throw the money left and right and expect nothing in return for it. I mean if my ancestors were anything like me they would never have become rich in the first place!'
'Come now. There is no need to be like that!'
'Oh! I think there is every reason to be like that,' Mike returned, aggressively. 'You have spent the last six years using me as your own personal bank account. But it wasn't enough, was it. You had to marry into the family as well. You waited for my father to die and then you made your move...'
'Your mother and I love one another very much,' Ralph replied sombrely.
'Don't lie to me!' Miked snapped back. 'You are a young buck in your twenties. She is sixty years older than you!
'O! I can see through you, Ralph! You married her for the estate and nothing more. After all, what is to stand against you taking the title of squire one day? Me? That's all. An old men who will be dead soon. I have no siblings, no children. All you would have to do is ride out a few years and then take the whole prize in one go. Nice plan, Ralph. You are very clever, for one so young. But I see through your game. From the moment you rolled the dice, I saw you. From the moment you played your hand, I saw you. From the moment I met your eyes, I saw you; when you stood in my hall and looked on my chair and fancied it for yourself I saw you. And now I know you to be that thing I needed least to see in front of my eyes.'
'Pipe down!' Ralph replied. 'You cannot speak to me this way! I am a member of the family now!'
'Don't make me laugh!' said Mike. 'You truly are the crier of nonsense! You say family? Really? You lied your way into my hall! Family? You are delusional!'
'But I am family, Mike. Exactly that! And you can spit and cuss and say what you like, but there is no denying the fact that I am part of this house now. Permanently. It is your mothers wish, that I her new husband play a greater role in the running of this estate. Things are going to change around here, Mike. I am not the humble gamekeeper I was a month ago. When I placed that ring on your mothers finger I became part of this little empire of yours. One and whole. There will be more than one boss from now on. Every decision you make for change must be run by me for review. That is how it is going to be from now on. So get used to it, Mike.'
When Mike heard this his temper grew so hot that he smashed the glass in his hand!
'Damn and darn you!' he replied. 'You have got it all worked out haven't you? Get your feet under the table, trick my mother, and now the final killing blow. It's time to scoop up the keys to the kingdom. Nice plan, but it won't work, son, not on my watch! I will die before I see you on the throne... Or is that your plan?'
'Don't be absurd!' said Ralph. 'You spend too much time stuck in this house, drinking whiskey, that you have lost your mind. You are a fantasist! I just want a good life. A peaceful life. And I want to share it with your mother...'
'She is ninety six years old and can't talk!'
'I don't care. It's her heart that I love.'
'You don't even know her, not really.'
'I know her in my dreams. I know her in my soul...'
'Rubbish! You are full of gibberish! You are the one who is mad to think you could get away with doing any of this! She does not love you! You tricked her! You conned a sick woman into courting you. But you won't win this sick little game of yours! O! You have played the game so far, and fair play to you son you have played the game well. I am impressed. You have got yourself in the hall. A slice of he pie sits in your belly. But you won't get the time to digest it. Because I am taking the knife to your guts! O you wait and see! The knife is brandished and hot! You will see.'
'You are threatening me now?'
'Yes. It is that obvious, Ralph?'
'You can't do that. I am married to your mother. You cannot threaten to kill me! Your actions are illegal!'
'Are they? It's just you and me now, in this room. There is no one else to see us or hear us. I can say what I like. You can't prove anything in a court. So don't come at me with this legal nonsense that you don't understand.'
'I don't have to put up with this! I should leave, and go be with the woman I love!'
'You are going nowhere! And certainly nowhere near my mother! She is sick and bedridden! You do not love her, scum. I should kill you now!'
'You are an idiot!' said Ralph taking Mike by surprise.
Ralph was very calm, and there was even a smile on his face.
'If this is, as you proclaim, a game that I am playing, then you have lost!' he continued. 'I am married to your mother and that makes me the head of the house. And one day, very soon, I will be the head of everything else as well. To think I was homeless ten years ago... forced into bankruptcy by your family. But now I have the house and soon it will be you who is homeless. What an interesting story I will have to tell my children! How the lord became the landless, and the beggar became the king.'
'You have not won yet,' Mike returned. 'But I can see you for what you really are now. You have let your true colours shine! End the scheming, Ralph! Bow now and bow out. Release yourself form this endeavour. Burn your goals. Unless you have an ambition for your underside to become acquainted with the tip of my boot, quit while the going is good! I can eject you from this house with but one breath.'
You have not won the keys - not yet!
'I hear you, old friend. But I don't heed you,' said Ralph. 'I am my own man. I do as I wish. I don't care how things get done so long as they are done. That has always been my way. I pulled myself up by my bootstraps. I started off at the bottom. Look at me now!'
'Enjoy it while it lasts,' Mike returned. 'I am not impressed by you. In the early days I gave you the benefit of the doubt. Trusting you was my first and last mistake. I want you to know that this business between you and I is over. I want my money back and then I want you out of this house for good. I want you banished!'
'It's not going to happen. What's yours is mine. We are family! And so I owe you nothing! The loan came to an end the moment I wed your mother!'
'I knew you would fight me over the money,' Mike replied. 'That is why the other day I sold the loan!'
'You did what?'
'You can expect a visit from a few friendly chaps in a few days. You have that to look forward to, Ralph. And one more thing. I notified the police concerning the drop in our stock. I find it very interesting that our profits started to decline approximately a month ago - isn't that when you married my mother? I wonder what interesting things the police will discover when they begin their investigation. What's the matter, Ralph? You are starting to look very pale? Are you unwell? Or is it a guilty conscience playing out its dance? Maybe it is time for someone to start packing their bags...'
'You can't do this to me?' Ralph replied. 'I love your mother! You have gotten this all wrong. I am not the man you think I am. I married your mother because I wanted to spend my life with her, and enjoy what days we have left. I won't let you destroy everything that we have! For her sake I can't!'
'You try and stop me son. I have already played my hand. My cards are on the table. I reckon my hand trumps yours. And you know it. The game is over. It's time for you to run...'
Ralph was not having any of it.
He had come prepared for this encounter:
He drew out a knife from his inner coat pocket and stabbed Mike in the chest - eventually killing the man.
He had it all planned out - take the master chair, rile Mike up enough to stand and confront him in the centre of the living room right where there was a rug large enough to cover a bloody body.
So Ralph wrapped the body up, and dragged it outside. Ralph was a strong man but even so it was hard work dragging that dead body across the fields, and to the bogs where the corpse was finally set to rest.
So much for Mike King, the lord of the manor!
Ralph whipped his hands, dusted off his coat and returned to his little cottage down the road.
Once home Ralph poured himself a brandy to help steady his nerves. Then he moved himself to the hearthstone where he tried to get a fire going. But every-time he managed to get a spark to fly the little flame afterwards would just disappear, like something had deliberately blown it out...
What was going on?
Ralph tried to light another spark:
It failed!
Three, four, five:
Fail!
What kind of mischief was this?
'Just give up son,' said a voice in the corner of the room. 'No fire is going to warm you in this place.'
Ralph turned around and to his horror he found Mike King standing there as still as a statue.
No!
How could this be?
Mike continued:
'Looks like you get to enjoy my company for a bit longer, son...'
'But I... you sunk to the bottom of the bog? I saw it! How did you get out?'
'It's really not worth thinking about,' Mike replied. 'All you need to know is this: I was always ahead of the game! Your whiskey was poisoned. I knew about the knife - I noticed that it was missing days ago. Only you could have stolen it - it doesn't take a fool to figure it out. Who else in my house would steal the knife? Not me, not my mother, just you. So I guessed you had some plan to kill one of us. But I didn't think you would have the guts to go ahead and actually do it. But you did, more fool you, and now you have no guts at all. What's the matter Ralph? You are looking pretty pasty, son. Actually you have got no colour in you at all! Here. Let me pour you another whiskey, Ralph! Here you go. Drink it down. Don't be afraid. It's not like it can kill you...'
AGAIN
THE END
(Remember! All spelling errors and grammatical mistakes are intentional - the author 😆)
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